Everlasting Gum
by andersaj
Summary: This is my first ever fanfic! I've never really written a story for the matter. I hope you all enjoy! It was just a funny little situation I thought of in my head. I hope it translated from my brain to the page! Lily Evans has Everlasting Gum in her hair...


James Potter entered the Head's Common Room one evening after Quidditch practice. It was an ordinary night like any other. Lily Evans the Head Girl of Hogwarts was seated on the couch furiously writing notes with three books in front of her, as usual (*insert eyeroll here*). He glanced at Lily in amusement as he walked towards the staircase up to his bedroom and stopped. Was that a bird's nest on her head? Upon closer inspection he realized that her long red locks had been tangled into some sort of bowl shape on top of her head.

"New hairstyle Evans?" he laughed.

She looked up from her work and glared at him. "Do not start with me James Potter! This is quite possibly the worst day ever and I can't fix my damn hair so it's just going to have to stay like this!"

He held back a laugh. "What exactly happened Evans?".

She looked embarrassed and avoided making eye contact "I may or may not have gotten Everlasting Gum in my hair…".

"How on Earth did you get gum on top of your head?"

"Well it sort of just fell onto my head…"

"Out of your mouth?". She nodded. "Onto the top of your head?". Another nod. "What _really_ happened Evans?"

"Alright fine! I was tossing it in the air and trying to catch it in my mouth and it landed on my head. And its so _bloody_ sticky that I can't get it out of my hair! I've tried _everything_ and it won't come out and I'm pretty sure it's fused itself to my scalp. So, it's just going to have to stay there until it grows out or my scalp rejects it and pushes it out!". She had a manic look in her eyes and he thought she might start frothing at the mouth. He laughed loudly. "You're ridiculous Evans."

"This is not funny Potter! I'm going to have gum in my hair forever!".

"Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist! It won't be there forever! Have you tried washing your hair?"

"Yes!"

"What about conditioner?"

"Yes!"

"Peanut butter?"

"YES – Wait, peanut butter?"

"Yeah! I heard it's supposed to get gum out of your hair!"

"Why on Earth would I put peanut butter in my hair? That's just gross!"

"Two words Evans, _Bird's Nest_."

"Okay fine, I'll try it! But…I don't have any peanut butter. Where would I find that?"

"Wait here Evans, I've got you covered!". He scrambled up the stairs to his room and came running back down with a jar of peanut butter.

"You just keep that stuff in your room?!" Lily asked incredulously.

"Of course," he shrugged.

"But… _why_?"

"You never know when you'll need peanut butter. It has its uses…"

Lily rolled her eyes. "You Marauders are so _weird_ ," she mused.

James narrowed his eyes. "Do you want my help or not Evans?"

"Yes please."

"Alright then, hold still…"

* * *

"Is it working?" Lily asked.

"Erm…well… kind of?"

" _James._ "

"Okay… Well, I think we may have made it worse. I was so sure the peanut butter would work! The gum just seems to have created a barrier and the peanut butter won't interact with it. So now it's all just in your hair… At least it will taste good right?"

" _Oh my god_! _James_!"

"Okay, how about I try summoning it? That should work right?"

"NO! I already tried -"

"ACCIO GUM!"

"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU TRYING TO BLOODY KILL ME?!"

James who was momentarily distracted looked down at her head and his eyes widened. It appeared that the summoning charm had worked but the gum was so tangled in her hair it was trying to rip it out in its haste to be summoned.

"Shit, sorry! _Finite_!"

She looked at him with murder in her eyes, but he couldn't take it seriously because now her hair resembled a cone instead of a nest. He sniggered.

"Stop laughing! What am I going to _do_?"

"Well we could cut it out. You might look a bit funny, but we can charm your hair to grow."

"Are you good with hair spells? Because I certainly am not! I'd rather not look like a freak thank you!"

"Well could it get any worse than it is now?"

She glared at him and he raised his hands in defense. He appeared in thought for a moment and then locked eyes with her. "Get your swimsuit Evans. We're going to the Prefect's bathroom."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lily was back in the Common Room with her swimsuit on underneath her clothes. She was inwardly cursing herself because the only one she had was a metallic gold bikini. Her mother had given it to her as a present to celebrate her "womanhood" or something equally weird. Apparently, all women needed a sexy bathing suit in their arsenal. Whatever that meant? She had thrown it into her trunk extremely embarrassed and had vowed to never wear it. Considering she had never gone swimming at Hogwarts before she never felt the need to bring a different bathing suit. Until now…

James came rushing down the stairs in a pair of swim trunks and a sweatshirt. She raised an eyebrow.

"Hippogriffs Potter? Are you twelve?"

He shrugged. "Gag gift from Sirius. Besides, the ladies _love_ them!"

"Oh, I'm sure," she deadpanned. He glared jokingly and then pulled a big silky piece of cloth out of his bag.

"Is that a towel?" she asked.

"No, it's an Invisibility Cloak."

"You _have_ one of those!? Merlin, it all makes sense now! I always wondered how you were able to stalk me all those years."

"That and I also have a map of the school that would tell me where you were…"

"WHAT?"

He waved her off. "It's not important. I'll show you another time. Now get under the cloak."

"I'm not getting under there!"

"Do you want people to see you like this? Besides, its after curfew. We can't have our Head Girl's perfect reputation ruined, can we?"

She huffed. "Alright fine. But if your hand goes anywhere near my arse, I will hurt you."

"Fine, you can stand behind me. _I_ don't mind if you touch my arse."

"Oh, shut up. Let's go."

* * *

It was slow and awkward walking under the cloak with two people. Lily was also hyper aware of how close she was to James and every time they bumped into each other she would get unpleasant butterflies in her stomach. It also didn't help that he smelled like leather and cologne. So, she had a little crush on James? So, what? He was still a smarmy git.

"Okay, we're here Evans. _Mermaid Tears_ ," he said to the door and it opened. They walked inside the bathroom shutting the door behind them and James pulled the cloak off them. Lily took a step away from him and breathed in the fresh air. She felt all hot and flustered. James made his way to the giant tub (i.e. swimming pool) and started turning on the taps.

"So, tell me, why the Prefect's bathroom?" Lily asked.

"Well this place has so many potions and weird hair concoctions, I figured _something_ has to get that gum out."

"Oh. That's actually a smart idea."

He smiled slightly. "Thanks".

A few minutes later the tub was full of steaming water making the bathroom all humid and sticky. Lily felt hot and uncomfortable, but she was too embarrassed to allow James Potter to see her in a bikini. James stuck his foot in the tub to test the water and nodded. "Okay Evans let's get this gum out of your hair!". He pulled his sweatshirt over his head placing his glasses on top. Lily looked down at her toes to hide her blush. He was _fit_. He jumped into the pool with a big splash sloshing water onto the bathroom floor. When he surfaced, he was smiling, and his hair was slicked back making him look even more attractive. God, why was she being such a _girl_ right now?

"Are you coming in or what Evans?" he called to her.

"Uhh… I don't think so. Maybe I'll just go back upstairs."

"Why are you being all weird now?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. Are you scared Evans?" he teased.

"I am _not_ scared."

He smirked. "I think you are," he baited. "Is Wittle Wilykins scared of the big mean bathtub?" he cooed.

Of course, she fell for it. "Fine!" She huffed and pulled her sweater off throwing it into the corner. She tugged her jeans off and threw those over too. James was gaping at her. " _WHOA_! You look like Princess Leia!".

"I do not! And how do you even know who that is Potter?"

He shrugged. "Sirius was very anti-pureblood this summer and made me go to the cinema. We ended up seeing Star Wars. It was bloody brilliant! And I have to say, Princess Leia was _very_ attractive in that gold bikini."

"Look away Potter! I'm coming in."

He waggled his eyebrows but put his hands over his eyes. "Anything for you princess."

"Don't call me that!". She walked over to the tub and climbed in down the latter. Once she was immersed in the water she said, "Okay I'm in. You can look now."

He took his hands off his eyes and smiled. "Hi princess."

"Hi," she blushed.

He grinned and motioned to the various shampoos and potions at the side of the tub. "Ready to get started?"

"Yeah, alright."

"Okay princess. How about we start with Sleakeazy's Hair Potion? My father is the inventor you know, and it has never let a witch down."

"Really Potter?! I had no idea! You've only been telling us this for the past seven years!"

He gave her a look but made no comment and grabbed the bottle. "Operation: Gum Removal commences now!"

* * *

"Evans, we have a small problem."

"What is that?"

"Your hair is blue."

" _WHAT?_ _BLUE, POTTER? BLUE_!"

"Well it's just that, it's not supposed to be used on redheads… and I only remembered that after it turned your hair blue…"

"MERLIN HELP ME!". She launched herself out of the tub and ran to the mirror not even caring the amount of backside that was exposed in her scandalous bikini. She examined herself in the mirror in silence twisting left and right. "I like it," she noted. Her hair was an electric shade of blue that seemed to work with her pale skin and bright green eyes. She felt edgy.

"You _do_? But – the red – I like your hair the way it is," he whined.

"Well you should've thought of that before you dyed it blue Potter! And by the way, you might want to tell your father that his hair potion does not remove gum."

He grinned. The great Fleamont Potter was clearly no match for Lily Evans.

* * *

"Okay, so we've tried Sleakeazy's, Dexter's Double Action Detangler, Super Suds Shampoo and that one bottle that was so slippery on the outside I could barely hold onto it. We've also tried all those unnamed bottles over there," he motioned to the ledge of the bath. "The gum is still there, but on the bright side your hair isn't blue anymore."

"Damn it! I liked the blue hair," she pouted.

"I don't know. I like your normal hair, it's unique. When the light catches it, it looks like fire or a phoenix and - " he realized what he was saying and cut himself off. His cheeks were slightly pink.

He was silently treading water, so she decided to change the subject. "So, what else can we try? Let's see…there's hair gel, that won't work. _Bacon grease_? Urgh disgusting! Why would anyone use that in the bathroom?"

"Sometimes you need a little lubrication."

"You are sick Potter. Oh, look at this! _Magical Adhesive Remover_! Now that has got to work! Again, I don't know why you would use that in the tub?" she mused.

"Okay Evans sit still!" He grabbed the bottle and squeezed the product into her hair. He started massaging it into her hair paying close attention to where the gum was.

"Is it working?"

"Not exactly, but I have an idea. Hold tight." He grabbed another bottle and squirted the product into her hair. He began massaging again.

"Is that bacon?! I can't believe you put bacon grease in my hair!" She whipped her head around to berate him when something flew across the tub and landed with a _plop_. The gum had come out…

He smirked. "Sometimes you just need a little lubrication Evans."

They both laughed and she splashed him in the face with water.

* * *

Lily had finally washed her hair with normal shampoo and conditioner and the two of them were now floating lazily around the tub. There were tons of bubbles drifting through the air due to all the products used but it added a nice effect.

"I think my skin has turned into a prune," Lily said.

James looked at his own hands and nodded. "Me too. Maybe we should dry off and head back to the common room?"

She nodded and swam towards the ladder. She could feel Potter's eyes on her as she climbed out and smirked to herself. Suddenly she understood what her mum meant about having a good bikini in her arsenal.

They dried off in silence putting their clothes back on over their swimsuits. James was currently cleaning his glasses in front of the mirror.

"So," Lily began, "why did we need to be in the tub to do this?"

"We didn't, I just thought it would be fun to go swimming."

"James Potter! You are the _worst_."

"Oh, come on! Admit it. You had fun Evans. And without me you would have birds nesting in your hair any day now! You would be the laughing stock of the school _and_ would probably catch some sort of bird flu… and die. So really, if you think about it, you owe me your life Lily Evans. But, I'm willing to settle for something less extreme."

"Fine. Maybe it was a little fun. But, only a little. And I do not owe you!"

"I think you at least owe me a kiss Evans," he teased.

She looked conflicted and then nodded her head more to herself than anything. He didn't see any of this and was still working on his glasses with a laugh on his face. "Fine."

"W-what?" he stammered turning to face her.

"If that's your price then I'll do it. I mean, it's only a kiss, right? I don't want to owe you anything." She stepped towards him and he stepped back wide eyed.

"Lily, I was only joking! I don't want you to kiss me!"

She looked slightly hurt. "You don't?"

"Not like that! Not because you feel like you owe me. Which you don't! Besides, we're _friends_."

The word 'friends' stung but she didn't show it. "Right. We're friends. Are you ready to go?"

He nodded and the two of them left the prefects bathroom with the cloak around them again.

They returned to their common room and James pulled the cloak off. There was an awkward air surrounding them and he was nervously ruffling his hair.

"Well, goodnight Lily. I'm glad we got the gum out of your hair."

"Goodnight, James. Thanks for helping me out. You're a good friend."

He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes and then walked towards his staircase.

"Oh, and James?" he turned back to her. "I did have fun."

"Me too."

* * *

Lily was in her pajamas getting ready to crawl into bed when there was a knock at her door. She opened it only to see James standing there looking very disgruntled. "It's in my hair," he deadpanned.

"What is?"

"The gum. It must've been floating around the pool and latched itself onto my head."

She was silent for a moment and suddenly she was laughing. And he was laughing. The kind of laughter that has you doubled over with tears in your eyes. They were both howling and clutching each other for support, and then something came over Lily and she was kissing him. He stumbled slightly and then he was kissing her back. Finally, they broke apart for air and Lily blushed. She suddenly felt embarrassed by how bold she had been.

"So, should we go back to the Prefect's bathroom?"

"Oh, sod it! My hair is a disaster anyway."

And he kissed her again.

* * *

FIN


End file.
